It was the event of Israel’s exile, and the future beyond the exile, that the literary prophets of Israel were called and commissioned to explain. “Prophets” they were because their calling was to speak more than to act. They would not lead the nation into actions of a redemptive nature comparable to the deliverance from Egypt under Moses or the consolidation of the kingdom under David. As prophets, they were called first and foremost to speak, and by their speaking to demand repentance from the